“For he that shall be ashamed of Me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation: the Son of man also will be ashamed of him when he shall come in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)

(5) Pope Francis has the authority as Supreme Pontiff to bind the Church with his document but will not come out and do so. Rather, he implies that it is binding, but will not definitively utilize his Petrine powers to do so.

The controversial text of AL is a permission. How can the pope make a permission binding?